The present invention relates to a snow treatment apparatus for grooming skiing trails, slopes or the like as the apparatus travels on the treated surface, with at least one trailing scraper member freely swingable in a vertical plane, said scraper member including a scraper blade and a normally downwardly facing scraper base adjacent to the former and disposed at an acute angle relative to same, the angle adjustment of the scraper base relative to the treated snow surface being adjustable from a working position in which the scraper member scrapes snow off the surface, to a sliding position, in which the scraper base slides on the treated surface, a scoop being associated with the scraper member and being limited by two upright side walls parallel with the direction of travel of the apparatus, and by at least one shield adapted to be lowered towards and lifted away from the scraper member by means of at least one lifting arm in order to collect within the scoop the snow removed by the scraper member, to transport same and then to discharge same. The art to which the present invention relates can also be defined as an apparatus adapted to travel on a snow surface for grooming the surface of skiing slopes, trails or the like, having at least one trailing scraper secured to pulling means, said pulling means being pivotal about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the direction of travel, said scraper being provided with a scraper blade and including means for adjusting the angle at which the blade engages the snow surface, the device being provided with a shield disposed at the trailing end of the scraper end and connected to the pulling means.
The device of such type is well known in the art. Even though the utility of the known device is uncontested, its use, particularly on wet snow surfaces, that is to say, in a specific, relatively heavy and tacky snow, there are certain limits of application. If, under such circumstances, the entire scoop space is filled with snow, the accumulated snow mass changes into a monolythic block which makes it difficult to raise the shield, and even with a raised shield, is difficult to be discharged from the scoop area. Moreover, the shield of the known device is of a planar configuration and is used solely as a closure gate of the scoop space.
In another known comparable device, the shield is formed by an upwardly bent front end of a sledge. Although in this device it is possible to adjust the angle of the scraper member to adjust the depth of engagement, the sledge is pivotally secured to a towing arrangement, is disposed at a level which remains the same relative to the level of the scraper blade. The reason why this is disadvantageous is in that the trailing sledge, particularly when working with large volumes of snows engaged by the scraping blade, no longer spreads the snow lifted by the scraper. Instead, the sledge is caused by the accumulated snow to raise and to bring the scraper out of engagement with the groomed surface.
It is therefore, on the one hand, an object of the invention to provide a device of the above type, whose application is by far less dependent on the properties of the snow contained in the treated snow surface and wherein the shield can be allocated an additional function. On the other hand, the proposed device is to enable in all cases an ideal spreading or grading and solidifying of the snow surface over which the device travels.